


The way that we stay

by disgraceRavenclaw



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: "IM not having gay thoughts", Friends to Lovers, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Not really oneshots but they dont fall in line like a story u can skip some chapters, Slow Burn, anyway enjoy arthur dying over lewis and lewis not understanding why, author is lazy dont expect much, its gay fellas ;), no, no beta we die like men, slow burn?, this is what that is, this whole thing is Arthur going "no
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 08:03:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15725313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disgraceRavenclaw/pseuds/disgraceRavenclaw
Summary: Every time Arthur *happens to notice* something lovely about Lewis, *BUT NOT IN A GAY WAY*.Chapters could be anywhere from 500 to 2000 words, I have literally no idea. There should be multiple of them though.





	1. Winter

Arthur watched as his breath came out in puffs of warm, visible air. It dissolved into the icy atmosphere. He tried to ignore the numbness in his feet as he followed Lewis down the sidewalk.

"So," Arthur asked, noting how frozen his face was already. "how long is the walk home?"

"It shouldn't be long," Lewis assured, bringing his scarf down so he could speak. If Arthur knew it were going to be this cold, he would've bundled up more. This was the coldest winter Tempo had in years. it was about 20 degrees below freezing, and Arthur was a twig of a guy, which made it even worse. 

Paprika was sitting on Lewis' shoulder, messing with his earmuffs. He laughed, and lightly shooed her hand away. "Paprika, stop. I need those," he said cheerily. Arthur laughed too. Arthur liked hanging out with Lewis and his sisters. Well, except for Cayenne. She was a bit of a brat. Arthur grew up an only child, and he envied the sibling experience Lewis had some days. And other days...

Paprika pulled the earmuffs off of Lewis' head. "Hey!" Lewis exclaimed, reaching to get them back. Arthur chuckled. "C'mon man," he added, "Sharing is caring."  
Lewis rolled his eyes. Their walk was about half over when Arthur's face started going seriously numb from the slight wind, which made it even colder out. He shivered, and held a hand up to touch the skin. Lewis turned to look at Arthur, concerned. "You okay Arthur?"

Arthur shivered again, and looked up at Lewis. He waved his hand to dismiss Lewis' concern. "I'm fine," Arthur said, "Just cold."

Paprika made a little noise that sounded like a whimper, before taking off the earmuffs. She tried handing them out to Arthur, but he was too far away. Arthur laughed a little at the gesture. He reached up and accepted her offering. "Thanks, Peppi." He put the earmuffs on. Suddenly, Lewis stopped walking to face Arthur. Before Arthur could say anything, Lewis put the back of his hand against Arthur's cheek. Arthur withdrew a little bit, surprised. Lewis bit the inside of his cheek, something he did when he was nervous. "Your face is really cold. Hold on," he said, and unwrapped his scarf from his neck.

Arthur put his hands up in front of him. "Oh, no, it's okay, Lewis, you don't need to." But Lewis was already holding the scarf in his hands, and taking a step closer to Arthur. "I'd like to, really. It's fine." At that, Arthur held very still as Lewis wrapped the scarf around his neck, and snugly fitting against his face. He stepped back a bit and smiled. "There," he said. "Feeling better?"

Arthur's face was heating up a little bit. Probably because of the scarf. It was still warm from when Lewis was wearing it. He nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Lew." 

"No problem," Lewis said, grinning slightly. Arthur pulled the scarf a little tighter, and they continued walking. It smelled like the Pepper Paradiso, and it was made of something really soft. Arthur had no clue what, but he wished everything were made of whatever this scarf was made of. He smiled, walking side by side with Lewis, and staying close to him. 

Only for body heat, and for no other reasons.


	2. Movie night (sleepover part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is kind of a two parter? And also, way longer than the first chapter. Since for chapter one all i had to go off of was "arthur is a chilly boy" and this one is "get in loser, we're going romance movie watching"  
> Also I live for the solidarity between Arthur and the younger Pepper children <3 warms up my cold, dead, cryptid void-being heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha this one is longer.  
> And gayer.  
> I think in the next chapter Arthur might finally admit to himself that wanting to smooch ur buddy isn't a Hetero Homie™ thing to want to do :/
> 
> Arthur likes the red ring pops  
> Vivi likes the green ring pops  
> Lewis like the blue ring pops (the best one)  
> FIGHT me okay
> 
> cw vivi gets fucking roasted

Arthur sat on the couch, bouncing his leg lazily. The day seemed to go by at a snails pace. It wasn't even noon yet. The week, really. Arthur was watching some netflix original that really wasn't that interesting and eating a hotpocket.

"Arthur," a stern voice from behind called, "what are you doin'?"

Arthur turned around, sleepy and slow from boredom. "Hey, uncle Lance," he said, his uncle's expression half amused and half concerned. "Nothing, really." His uncle came up behind the couch and leaned on the back of it, looking down at his nephew. "Y'know, you should be doin' somethin'. Its not healthy for a guy your age to stay cooped up in the house all day."

Arthur shrugged, turning away from his uncle and back to his mediocre netflix show. "I'd love to get out, but there's nothing to do."

"How about you call up that Lewis guy you know? Go hang out at his place?" Lance suggested. Arthur did like that idea, but he didn't want to bother Lewis. "Maybe," he said, not moving to do anything.

Lance started walking into the kitchen. "Call him," he said over his shoulder, "you never know. Maybe he's just as bored."

Arthur supposed his uncle was right. He grabbed his phone from the coffee table and shot Lewis a text.

11:42 am  
Arthur: bro are u busy???

11:45 am  
Lewis: no the restaurant is closed today. Why?  
Arthur: im bored af can I come over?

11:47 am  
Lewis: to do what?  
Arthur: man idfk whatever we do when you come to my place  
Lewis: we play on the wii, I dont have a wii  
Arthur: we dont JUST play on the wii tho  
Lewis: we watch movies like sometimes  
Arthur: then let's watch a movie  
Lewis: OH MY GOD  
Arthur: what  
Lewis: WE'RE WATCHING THE PRINCESS BRIDE  
Arthur: No dude that movie sounds lame, why dont I bring a movie  
Lewis: NO WE'RE WATCHING THE PRINCESS BRIDE, ARTHUR  
Lewis: JUST GIVE IT A CHANCE ITS GOOD  
Arthur: Godddd but it sounds cheesy. Is it a barbie movie? it sounds like a barbie movie  
Lewis: I'm insulted  
Lewis: You're gonna watch it, and youre gonna love it, no buts  
Arthur: god ok whatev. I'm coming over in a little bit i gotta go shopping for snacks.  
Lewis: My house is a restaurant

11:50 Arthur: then make twinkies idk??? Can you even do that?????  
Lewis: twinkies are gross  
Arthur: your standards are too high. Wdyw from the lil store  
Lewis: Lil debbie zebra cakes n brownies, get chex mix and cheeto puffs, and also some A&W??  
Arthur: candy?  
Lewis: ring pops, the blue ones  
Lewis: If someone proposed to me with a ringpop id say yes, but only if it were a blue one  
Arthur: the red ones are superior, but okay  
Lewis: at least you don't like the green ones, thats the one thing vivi is wrong abt ever.  
Arthur: Vivi "impulse is my only driving force" Yukino??? WRONG abt smth????? nooo,,,,, never,,,,,,,,  
Lewis: Shut up and get over here

11:57 am  
Arthur: ok ok ill be over in a bit

Arthur put down his phone and got in the van.

~TIME SKIP~

Arthur knocked on the locked door of the Pepper Paradiso. He saw through the glass door as Mrs. Pepper approached, annoyed look on her face. Once she saw Arthur, it softened a little, and she went to open the door. "Hello, Arthur," she said calmly. "What brings you here?" She eyes the two plastic bags he carried full of junk food and soda pop.

"I came over cause Lewis and I were planning to hang out. Did he not tell you?" She shook her head. "No, he didn't. Come in, make yourself at home. We're always pleased to have you, boy." She grinned as she said it, ruffling his hair slightly. Arthur came in and looked around. Empty tables, empty chairs, some lovely soft yellow curtains adorning stained glass windows. It looked like a home.

A young girl with tan skin and pink/purple hair ran up to him. "Artie! Artie!" she cheered. He grinned, setting down the plastic bags as she clinged to his leg. "Hey Belle," he said, addressing the oldest pepper sister. Belle looked up at him, and up at the plastic bags on the table. She climbed up a chair to look at the goods on the table. "Are those for me?"

Arthur hesitated, not wanting to say no, so he dug into the bag. "Do you like ring pops?"

"Yeah!" she exclaimed. "The red ones!"

Arthur grinned. "Alright, those are my favorite too!" He was glad he got 3 red ring pops, knowing he'd probably feel unsatisfied with just one. He gave her a ring pop, hoping her mom or dad wouldn't mind. She held it like it was worth a small fortune, and eyed it in the same fashion. "Alright!" she cheered. She ran off with the candy gripped in her hands.

She ran past Lewis, why was walking down the stairs, and almost tripped him. "Woah, Belle, be careful!" he called up the stairs to her. Arthur swore he heard her shout an apology back, but he couldn't be sure. Lewis walked over to Arthur. "Hey, buddy! How ya been?" he walked over to Arthur, and before Arthur could answer, Lewis pulled him into a tight hug.

Arthur felt all the life being squeezed out of his body like a tube of toothpaste. "aghh..." he groaned. "Good...thanks for crushing mee.." he said, voice strained. Lewis let out a small sound of realization, and let go of him, so Arthur could breathe again. Arthur felt sad at the loss of contact. Because he loved nothing more than sharing...a nice, friendly, hug between his buddy and himself. 

Lewis grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that, dude. C'mon, i'll show you to my room!" he grabbed Arthur's wrist and tugged him away. Arthur yelped as Lewis dragged him away.

Lewis lead Arthur through a hidden door and into a secret hall. He assumed this is where the actual house part of the restaurant was. It wasn't exactly a house as much as it was a series of bedrooms for the Pepper family. They turned into the second to last room, into a room with lilac walls, littered with a couple posters Arthur didn't recognize. He saw one for Sailor moon, and another for something called Howl's Moving Castle. Lewis' bed was made neatly, with a purple comforter tucked tightly over it. On his bed sat a black laptop, with a movie pulled up online, called "The Princess Bride"

Arthur sat down on the bed, looking at the screen. The picture had two people, a man and a woman, standing between two pillars with a fantasy castle and clouds in the background. It looked really lame. He turned to Lewis and looked at him judgmentally. Lewis grinned. "No, dude, you're gonna love this movie. But before that, snacks."

Arthur nodded. "Right," he said, pulling out all the metric tons of candy and chips and soda he bought at the store. Arthur turned to Lewis, who was still sorting out what food was his. "Why did you pick this movie?" He said with a kind of nervous bubble in his throat keeping him from talking normally. He didn't know why it was there. Just the idea of going over to Lewis' place for the first time to watch a romance movie. Alone. Together. On his bed. But maybe Arthur had just been overthinking things.

Lewis grinned. "'Cause it's a classic? Dude, this movie isn't just well written, it's almost perfectly written. They make all the overused tropes look good, and i can watch this thing over and over for days on end. They tie up all the loose ends, all the problems are fixed, everyone gets what they're looking for..." 

Arthur began spacing out as Lewis spoke. He chose instead to admire how Lewis was saying the words. His violet eyes were lit with excitement, and his cheeks were tight from where the smile pulled his face up. He was looking off into nothing as he spoke, too focused on how much he liked the movie. He spoke with his hands making random gestures, and he would stutter from talking too fast every few sentences. He just did not stop talking. Arthur thought it was cute. 

Cool. he thought it was cool.

It came to Arthur's attention suddenly; Lewis had stopped talking. "Wow," Arthur breathed, "It sounds amazing." Arthur wasn't fully listening, but he was sure the movie was good if Lewis just talking about it got him interested.

Lewis pulled open a bag of chips, and brought the laptop between them. "And," he continued, "It's a really funny movie, so if you don't like the story, you'll probably still laugh at the jokes." Arthur grabbed a bottle of fanta and smiled. "Well, at least there's that. Put it on."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya boy really is cutting it off here, i apologize  
> I might be projecting myself onto Lewis because just mentioning the princess bride in this made me have to go rewatch it it's just so good  
> If you havent watched it, Go Do That!!!  
> If you have, comment ur fav part of it  
> I'll start:
> 
> "So you'll put down your rock, and I'll put down my sword, and we'll kill each other like civilized people?"


End file.
